Health impacts of obesity

The aim of this communication is to provide some evidence linking the overweight/obesity and their impacts on different dimensions of health. We reviewed the related studies published from 1990 up till now through PubMed Central/Medline, which provide evidence linking obesity with health related issues. It is a risk factor for metabolic disorders and leads to serious health consequences for individuals and burden for the health care system as a whole. Literature search showed that it is related to at least 18 co-morbidities which are attributable to overweight and obesity. Moreover obese individuals more often suffer from significant joint pains, disorders and it also has social as well as psychological impairments. It is high time that countries facing the problems of obesity initiate some intervention measures to monitor and control this growing epidemic

Project monitoring and evaluation: an enhancing method for health research system management

Planning, organizing, staffing, leading and monitoring are the basic functional component of management. In present article, we aim to define the project monitoring and evaluation in health research system [HRS] considering its success and challenges based on our national experience. In this study based on the information of annual Medical Science Universities evaluation during the last decade the HRS indicators have been scored in three axes based on HRS functions: Stewardship, capacity building and knowledge production. In this article, we will focus on the results of HRS evaluation from 2002 to 2010, also on its success and challenges. In an overall view, the main results are the experiences of the designing and implantation of such process after pre-project preparation, all parts followed under the whole supervision of the aims of the HRS evaluation. Project management light the way of practical application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques for better HRS evaluation and management. We concluded that; although monitoring and evaluation as an essential part of HRS Management light the improvement ahead way but we still need to advantage of the new project management advances

qualitative study of community-based health programs in Iran: an experience of participation in I.R. Iran

Community-based health programs [CBHPs] with participatory approaches has been recognized as an important tool in health promotion. The goal of this study was to understand the nature of participation practice in CBHP and to use the data to advocate for more participation-friendly policies in the community, academy and funding organizations. In this qualitative study, 13 CBHPs, which were active for last 5 years have been assessed using semi-structural in-depth interviews with programs principal and managers and focus group discussions with volunteers and service users. Data analysis was based on the deductive-inductive content analysis considering the participatory approaches in these programs. The results show that, the main category of participation was divided to community participation and intersectional collaboration. The community participation level was very different from "main," "advisory" or "supporting" level. The process of recruitment of volunteers by the governmental organization was centralized and in non-governmental organizations was quite different. According to respondents opinion, financial and spiritual incentives especially tangible rewards, e.g., learning skills or capacity building were useful for engaging and maintaining volunteers' participation. For intersectional collaboration, strong and dedicated partners, supportive policy environment are critical. It seems that maintaining partnership in CBHP takes considerable time, financial support, knowledge development and capacity building

Needs assessment in health research projects: a new approach to project management in Iran

The science and technology health plan has defined the outline of health research to the national vision of Iran by 2025. The aim of this study was to focus on the process of needs assessment of health research projects also health research priority setting in Iran. The project management life cycle has four phases: Initiation, Planning, Execution and Closure. Based on abovementioned points we conducted the study. Focusing on the needs assessment led to systematic implementation of needs assessment of health project in all of the medical sciences universities. Parallel with this achieved strategies health research priority setting was followed through specific process from empowerment to implementation. We should adopt with more systematic progressive methods of health project managements for both our national convenience as well as our international health research programs

Peer education: participatory qualitative educational needs assessment

In the area of youth health, peers education is an approach to health promotion. Assess the training needs of peers educators clarifies the components, values, and quality of training protocols. Aim to that we conducted a participatory educational needs assessment of youth peer educators. Involving youth and key informants in direct collaboration with research team, a qualitative approach was planned based on grounded theory. For data collection a semi-structured guide questioning was designed. Sixteen focus group discussions and 8 in depth interview were held. The majority of participants emphasized on the importance of mental health, life skills, AIDS prevention, contraception methods, and healthy nutrition as the main training topics. They were extremely interested into the comprehensive educational material among their participatory role in peer programs. The training programs should be well defined based on the knowledge, skills and behavior of peers. During the implementation, training programs should be followed to meet the ongoing educational needs of service providers

Health research system evaluation in I.R. of Iran

Several systems have been proposed to rank academic institutions worldwide. We aimed to introduce a new method of Health Research System [HRS] evaluation in Iran. In this cross-sectional study, a specific questionnaire has been used to assess stewardship, capacity building, and knowledge production through annual evaluations of HRS in Iran. This article has explored the results of the 5-year evaluation [2003 - 2008] and aims to introduce this method to other developing countries. According to our study, in the stewardship axes, all medical science universities designed strategic plans by 2008 and 70% of the approved projects were based on priorities. In the domain of capacity building, the trend in the number of arranged workshops and held congresses is ascending. In the domain of knowledge production, the number of Iranian biomedical research articles increased from 2996 in 2003 to 8816 in 2008.The proportion of ISI Web of Science/Pub Med indexed articles per academic members also increased from 0.09 to 0.33. We conclude that HRS evaluation in Iran has supported knowledge production and has strengthened evidence-based policy making. The adapted ranking system for evaluation of medical research activities is an effective strategy for HRS promotion

Parents or school health trainers, which of them is appropriate for menstrual health education?

The purpose of this community-based participatory research was to compare different training sources for adolescents' menstrual health education. From 15 middle schools in Tehran, through quota random sampling, 1823 female students were selected proportionally and allocated randomly to three groups [parent trained, schools' health trainers trained, and control]. Following a two-year training program, the adolescents' menstrual health was compared. In the present study, the school health trainers trained group showed a better feeling for rrienarche, compared to the two other groups [P < 0.001]. The need for adolescent health training was emphasized by 82% of the participants; they also believed that the appropriate age for such empowerment courses was about 12 years. In the school health trainers trained group, the offered age was significantly lower than in other groups [P < 0.001]. The adolescents trained by the school health trainers had a better practice of habits related to menstrual and hygiene practices, like having a bath during menstruation and the use of sanitary pads or cotton, compared to their counterpart groups [P > 0.05]. It is suggested that school-based health training leads to better menstrual health promotion and healthy puberty transition, and school health trainers play a key role in this regard